Long-established fish & chip shop with flat, Tonbridge

Key features

• Same ownership since 1994, retirement sale
• £5,500–£6,000 weekly turnover, £800–£1,000 of it delivery
• New 16-year lease available
• Two-bedroom self-contained flat above, let at £1,200 pcm
• 5-star food hygiene rating

About this business

A traditional Tonbridge fish & chip takeaway in the same hands since 1994, turning over £5,500 to £6,000 a week on a 5.5-day pattern that closes at 9.00pm latest. Offered with a new 16-year lease and a self-contained two-bedroom flat above currently let at £1,200 a month. A genuine retirement sale with clear scope for a younger operator to push the takings on.

Trading figures

The vendor reports weekly turnover of £5,500 to £6,000, of which roughly £800 to £1,000 comes through the usual delivery platforms. The shop runs a deliberately conventional menu and shuts at 9.00pm at the latest — so there is honest, undeveloped scope in later openings and in adding fried chicken alongside the existing offer, both of which would be well received in this catchment.

Trading hours

Monday: 5.00pm – 9.00pm. Tuesday to Friday: 11.30am – 2.00pm and 5.00pm – 9.00pm. Saturday: 11.30am – 9.00pm. Sunday: closed.

Business premises

A firmly established mid-parade unit with an attractive glazed frontage, bi-folding windows, a wide single entrance and a full-width coloured fascia running across the top. Inside, the customer area is finished in tiled walls and flooring under a suspended lit ceiling, with two ceiling fans keeping the space comfortable. A three-pan Preston & Thomas counter range encloses an easy-to-work frying and serving bay, with the menu displayed above and a central opening through to the tiled back area that houses the fridges and freezers. A separate preparation room handles the potato work and stainless-steel sink, and there is rear access onto a service road with a garage used for additional dry storage. The shop is well maintained throughout and carries a 5-star food hygiene rating.

Trade equipment

The headline item is a three-pan Preston & Thomas counter range — the workhorse of the shop and the bulk of the equipment value before anything else is counted. Also included: an electric till, two fridges, three freezers, two microwave ovens, a chipper and a 56lb peeler, plus the usual smalls associated with the trade. (The above items of equipment have not been tested by Rosens — buyers should commission an independent inspection.)

Accommodation

A rear stairwell leads up to a double-glazed self-contained flat with two bedrooms, a living room, a fitted kitchen and a shower room. It is currently let at £1,200 a month, providing useful additional income, and can be handed over vacant if the incoming owner wants to live above the shop instead.

Trading position

Well established on a local parade of seven shops that includes a convenience store with a post office, sitting directly opposite a Co-op supermarket — the kind of anchor that pulls everyday footfall past the door. Easy free parking sits immediately outside, and the surrounding neighbourhood is a healthy mix of private and council housing within a good-class catchment, giving the shop solid year-round trade rather than a narrow seasonal pattern.

Special remarks

The same family has run this shop for 32 years and is now selling on retirement, offered with a fresh 16-year lease so the incoming buyer takes on a clean tenure. The reputation locally is excellent, the hygiene rating is 5-star, and the takings hold up consistently throughout the year. The combination of a conventional 9.00pm close, no Sunday trading and a menu untouched by fried chicken or extended evening hours points to clear, hands-on upside for a younger owner-operator — the sort of upside that is best appreciated on inspection.